Sensex tanks over 1,700 points, Nifty at 37-month low; all sectors in red

The S&P benchmark BSE Sensex opened nearly 1,500 points lower, while Nifty traded at 8,000-mark as the markets opened on Thursday (March 19, 2020). Clearly, all sectors were in the red due to global fears over the coronavirus pandemic.

MUMBAI: The S&P benchmark BSE Sensex opened nearly 1,700 points lower, while Nifty traded below the 8,000-mark - at 37-month low - as the markets opened on Thursday (March 19, 2020). Clearly, all sectors were in the red due to global fears over the coronavirus pandemic. 

At pre-open session today, Sensex dropped 1,000 points, with Nifty was at the 8,0000-mark. The benchmarks are expected to follow the global trend and open lower as investors remain cautious on global economies taking a severe hit due to COVID-19 and restrictions in its aftermath.

Nifty indicated a gap-down start for the Indian markets, as it fell 4.34% lower to 8,126. NLC India, Dhanlaxmi Bank, PVR, Steel Strips among others are the top stocks to watch out for in Thursday's trading session.

Overseas equity markets trend was also in red, with Kospi index falling the most, at 6%, followed by a 5% decline in Jakarta and Taiwan index. Hang Seng and SGX Nifty fell 4% each and Strait  Times fell 3%. Shanghai Composite and Nikkei were trading 1.3% and 0.75% lower, respectively. In Europe, FAF fell 4%, while DAX and CAC fell over 5.5% and 5.9% respectively.

On Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 6.3%, the S&P 500 lost 5.18% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 4.7%. The S&P 500 is now down about 29% from its February 19 record closing.  On Wednesday, extending losses for the third straight session, Sensex closed near day's low, falling 1,709 points to 28,896 and Nifty50 ended at 8,468-mark, down 498 points to its previous close.

In the latest move by a central bank to try to halt the spiralling economic and financial crisis sparked by the coronavirus epidemic, the European Central Bank kicked off a 750 billion euro ($820 billion) emergency bond purchase scheme after an unscheduled meeting on Wednesday.

The Covid-19 infection cases have risen drastically outside China, hurting major economies and disrupting supply chains. There are currently 219,181 confirmed cases and 8,965 deaths from the coronavirus outbreak. Of these, 85,742 have recovered globally. The number of infected cases in India has increased to 151.